How to build muscle at home

The core logic of the optimal training sequence for building muscle at home is to train the large muscle groups first to lay the foundation, and then work on the small muscle groups to focus on the details. Don’t just grab your arms and abdominal muscles at the beginning. The efficiency is ridiculously low.

Let me tell you something about a time when I helped the downstairs tenant adjust his weekly plan. The young man was born in 1997, and the single room he rented only had room for a pair of adjustable dumbbells and a yoga mat. When he came back from get off work, he would do abdominal crunches for half an hour, and then practice 4 sets of dumbbell curls. Occasionally, he would like to do a few push-ups. After two months of practice, he could see his four-pack abs except when he was hungry, and his T-shirt was still as thin as a paper man. His arm circumference only increased by 0.3cm. You think it was a loss or not.

Later, I adjusted the training sequence for him. After each warm-up, he would first do dumbbell weighted squats, then do incline push-ups + dumbbell bench presses to press his chest, then use elastic bands to do high pull-downs to train his back. Finally, with 10 minutes left, he would do two sets of curls and flats. He practiced like this for two and a half months. Last time I saw him wearing a tight white T-shirt, the outline of his chest muscles was revealed, and his arm circumference increased by 2cm. He himself was stupid, saying that he had just done useless exercises in the previous two months.

In fact, the principle is very simple. If you compare building muscle to building a house, the large muscle groups of the legs, chest, and back are the foundation, and the small muscle groups of the shoulders, arms, and core are the soft furnishings. If you are busy painting the walls and laying tiles before laying the foundation, the house will not only not be built high, but it may also collapse. The growth potential of large muscle groups is more than three times that of small muscle groups, and when you train large muscle groups, it will trigger the secretion of muscle growth-promoting hormones throughout the body, and your arms that you did not train specifically will also grow accordingly. The equipment at home is limited, so you must first put the movements that can mobilize the most muscles in the first half of the period where you have the most energy.

Of course, many people have different opinions. They say that if you live in an old community and there are no shock-absorbing pads, doing squats will make a loud noise to the neighbors. Can you skip the legs and do the upper body first? It’s not impossible. Several of my friends who live in old buildings do this. They put chest and back exercises such as push-ups and elastic band rowing at the forefront of every training. When the neighbors are out shopping for groceries and walking on the weekend, they will add two sets of free squats or lunges. This will only slow down the overall muscle gain by about 20%. If you can accept it, it’s totally fine. You won’t get into trouble with your neighbors for the sake of muscle gain.

After you have practiced for three to five months, the basic dimensions of your chest, back and legs have improved, and you can adjust the order according to your own needs. I had a friend who practiced for half a year, and his chest and back were thick enough, but his shoulders were narrow and could not support the newly bought suit. After each training, I did 4 sets of dumbbell shoulder presses after warming up, and then practiced other parts. The shoulder width increased by 1.5cm in two months. Now he wears a suit and is very satisfied.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that many people only focus on arranging the order of training. In fact, the priority of diet is higher than training. If you are exhausted after training, you will turn around and eat instant noodles to deal with it. No matter how good the training sequence is, it is useless. There are several friends around me who train very hard. They just can’t control their mouths and can’t remember to take protein supplements. After training for half a year, they have lost two kilograms. They are just busy.